Jack Rankin has been selected as the new Conservative candidate for Windsor, replacing a retiring Adam Afriyie. The new constituency, according to Electoral Calculus, contains 71 per cent of the existing Windsor constituency, alongside 14.9 per cent of Runnymede and Weybridge and 10.6 per cent of Slough. As such, it could be considered safe – but not quite as safe as it once was.
Naturally, such a plumb seat in the South-East – with the attendant connections to the Royal Family and Eton – attracts a lot of eager attention from potential candidates. In such an environment, it’s unsurprising if nerves fray, temperatures rise, and egos need massaging. The selection in Windsor has thus not been short of drama.
According to multiple local sources, this was “a very divisive selection process”. Two motions were proposed from local members to reopen the selection. As one local Tory told me that it “doesn’t pass the Colombo test”. A “desired favourite outcome” was “encouraged by CCHQ”, according to one local member. We are told there was “major disquiet” about a lack of local candidates and negative briefings.
Whilst others suggested to ConservativeHome that the problems had been “over-hyped” by local members “sounding off” in unprecedented numbers to particular journalists, there nevertheless were three major points of contention: a lack of women in the final four, differences between new and old parts of the seat, and tensions between those who wanted a “local champion” and those who did not.
None of these are unprecedented. We have repeatedly highlighted recurring points of dispute in recent selections over the disproportionate number of men selected, a tendency towards picking local candidates, and disagreements between pre-existing associations now enjoying a forced marriage. Nevertheless, it is unusual to see all three in the same place.
Rankin has local connections. He currently works for a renewable energy firm, contested his home seat of Ashton-under-Lyne in 2017 and then Warwick and Leamington in 2019. But he oversaw Vote Leave’s operation in Windsor in 2016, has served in various capacities in the local association, and, most importantly, was a local councillor from 2015 to 2019.
Rankin has said he is “truly honoured” to have been selected as the Conservative candidate. “Windsor is a great place where my wife and I made our first home together,” he says, and from his “time serving on the Royal Borough, I know the challenges local people face, from flooding to making sure that the roads, school places, and other necessary essentials are in place before any new development is agreed.”
The problem for Rankin – in the eyes of some local Tories – was that there were many people on the candidates’ list who had eyes on the constituency and lived locally. There were therefore a lot of disappointed members who did not find themselves on either the long list – which included Jamie Wallis, the sitting MP for Bridgend – or the short list. There are concerns local ties were not taken into account.
Nevertheless, Rankin made an all-male final four. Alongside him were Fabio Conti, an Ealing councillor and GP who fought Ealing Southall in 2017; Ashley Crossley, a wealth manager in the City, who came third in Falmouth and Camborne in 2005; and Tom Bennett, an entrepreneur in the environmental sector, councillor in Kensington and Chelsea, and the candidate in Ealing Southall in 2019.
Although Rankin had “good local connections”, the final choice was narrow. Those involved have described the process as “gruelling” but it was clear members “didn’t want a super-councillor”, with the suggestion that Rankin might be the best placed to balance local and national aspirations. There were also “different objectives” between long-standing Windsor wards and those newly added.
Whilst one local described the selection process as “gruelling” – and others pointed to the attempts to over-turn the vote as signs of members’ discontent – ConservativeHome wishes Rankin all the best. But the selection does raise questions over whether the candidates’ process is “transparent and fair” – and as to whether the public can have confidence in a process so lacking in local harmony.
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In other recent selections, Kristy Adams, a lawyer, former 2017 candidate in Hove, and ConservativeHome writer, has been selected to replace Mims Davies in the re-jigged constituency of Sussex Mid. She formed part of an all-female final three, including Jane Macbean, fellow ConservativeHome contributor, Chesham councillor, and former 2019 Gateshead candidate, and Lauren Atkins, a borough councillor and entrepreneur.
Meanwhile, Nigel Gardner has emerged as the victorious candidate in the new constituency of Harpenden and Berkhamstead. A consultant, and former spokesman for the European Commission, Gardner is also a former Labour candidate, who stood in both the 2001 general election, and the 2004 and 2009 European elections. This is a selection ConservativeHome will be returning to.
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As ever, if you have any information about candidates and selections in your local constituency, please contact me at william@conservativehome.com. We wish all newly selected candidates the best of luck.